The short answer
Two ideas get mixed up here:
- A discount takes money off the posted price when a customer pays a certain way, such as cash.
- A surcharge adds money on top of the posted price when a customer pays a certain way, such as by credit card.
Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry allows discounts. Surcharges are a separate topic, with their own limits. See Surcharging Credit Cards in Canada.
“Dual pricing” usually means showing two prices: one for cash and one for cards. None of the sources on this page use that term. They cover discounts and surcharges, and the difference between the two comes down to which price is the posted one.
What the Code of Conduct says
The Code of Conduct is a set of rules for card networks and the companies that process cards in Canada. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) oversees it. Its page on merchant rights says:
- “You may provide discounts for different methods of payment. For example, cash, debit card and credit card.”
- “You may also offer different levels of discounts among different card networks.”
So, under the Code, a discount can apply to cash, to debit, or to one card network and not another. The FCAC page does not mention surcharges. More on the Code: The Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry.
What Visa says
Visa Canada’s surcharging FAQ is about surcharges only. It says Visa allows a surcharge on Visa credit cards, capped at 2.4% or the merchant’s own average rate for Visa credit, whichever is lower. It does not allow one on Visa debit or prepaid cards. The FAQ does not mention cash discounts or two-price displays.
Visa’s rules (the edition dated 18 April 2026) have two sections that touch on this:
- Uniform services. A merchant “must process Transactions with all Cardholders in exactly the same manner.” Visa says this “does not apply to discounts, promotional offers, or in-kind incentives offered by the Merchant to a subset of Visa Cards.”
- Surcharges. A merchant “must not add any amount over the advertised or normal price to a Transaction”, unless laws “expressly require” that it be allowed to surcharge. Visa says that in Canada, this “does not apply to Visa Credit Card Transactions”, which have their own surcharge section.
Visa’s rules also have a section called “Discount Offer”. Its heading says it applies to the “US Region and US Territories” only. It lists ways a US merchant may encourage another way to pay, such as an immediate discount. We found no section with the same wording for Canada.
What TD’s terms say
TD Merchant Solutions’ terms (version 0726, in effect from July 10, 2026) set the rules for TD’s own merchants. Section 6.3 says a merchant may:
- offer customers a price “that is lower than your ticketed or posted price” if they use cash or another form of payment. TD calls this a “Discount”.
- give “different Discounts for using different Payment Card Network brands”.
TD adds: “You must clearly communicate any Discount at the point of interaction with your customers.”
Section 6.4 lists what a TD merchant must not do. It includes a fee or surcharge that is not permitted, “including without limitation charges that are prohibited under the Quebec Consumer Protection Act”, and directly surcharging “any Cardholder in respect of an Interac debit Transaction”. It also bars anything that “discriminates against or discourages use of one Card in favour of another Card, except that you may offer Discounts”.
TD’s terms also say permitted surcharging “is subject to an additional fee”, listed in the merchant’s fee schedule. Other processors’ agreements may word this differently.
Debit and Interac
Interac debit is the main debit network in Canada. Interac’s fees page says: “Merchants may not directly apply a surcharge to any cardholder for the use of the Interac Debit Service.”
The same page describes a surcharge capped at $0.25 that “must be applied by the merchant’s applicable Acquirer”. It must be printed on the transaction record and disclosed, and the customer must be able to cancel at no cost. That is a fee set through the acquirer (the company that processes the merchant’s card sales), not one the merchant adds itself.
Interac’s page does not mention discounts for paying another way. The FCAC’s wording covers discounts for debit as a method of payment. See Interac Debit: How It Is Priced.
Quebec
Quebec’s Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) says: “A merchant cannot charge fees when you use a debit or credit card to pay for a purchase.” It also says a merchant “cannot charge a higher than advertised price”, and that a sign or a spoken notice does not change this.
The OPC page does not mention discounts for cash or other payment methods.
Side by side
| Source | Discounts for another way to pay | Adding money on top of the posted price |
|---|---|---|
| FCAC (Code of Conduct) | Allowed: “for different methods of payment” and “among different card networks” | Not mentioned on the page |
| Visa Canada FAQ | Not mentioned | Credit card surcharge allowed, capped at 2.4% or the merchant’s own rate; not on debit or prepaid |
| Visa Rules (18 April 2026) | “Uniform services” rule does not apply to discounts for a subset of Visa cards | Not allowed over the advertised or normal price; in Canada, Visa credit card sales are the exception |
| TD terms (0726) | Allowed, below the “ticketed or posted price”; must be clearly communicated | Only a “Permitted Surcharge”; never directly on Interac debit; extra TD fee |
| Interac | Not mentioned | Merchants may not directly surcharge Interac debit; acquirer-applied fee capped at $0.25 |
| Quebec OPC | Not mentioned | Card fees prohibited; no charging above the advertised price |
What these sources do not cover
The sources above were read on 2026-10-13. None of them cover:
- the term “dual pricing”, or how to show a cash price and a card price side by side,
- how large a cash discount may be,
- Mastercard’s or American Express’s own rules on discounts in Canada (we have not read them for this page),
- provincial laws outside Quebec on discounts or price displays.
A processor’s own agreement can add rules for its merchants, as TD’s does. Ask your processor for the section of your agreement that covers discounts and surcharges.
Where to go from here
A discount does not change what the processor charges per sale. It changes what the customer pays. To see what card sales cost you now, How Much Does It Cost to Accept Credit Cards in Canada? breaks the cost into parts, and the effective rate calculator works out your own rate. For the US, see Cash Discounts and Surcharges Under Visa’s US Rules. Want a partner to review your statement? We will put you in touch. Start the free statement review.